The present invention relates to a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag which comprises an radio communication IC chip, and an information system using the RFID tag.
In recent years, the RFID tag has drawn attention as a technology for identifying a variety of “objects”. The RFID tag is a module comprised of a very small radio communication IC chip and an antenna, and can be designed in a variety of shapes such as a card shape, a label shape and the like. The radio communication IC tip of the RFID tag has a built-in memory from which data can be read in a non-contact manner using a dedicated reader (hereinafter called the “tag reader”). There is also an RFID tag which can write data into a built-in memory in a non-contact manner using a dedicated writer. Further, some tag readers and RFID tags may comprise a mechanism for avoiding collisions of communications (anti-collision function) which can result from simultaneous responses made by a plurality of RFID tags (see, “All about RFID IC Tag”, Nikkei BP Inc., Mar. 17, 2004).
The anti-collision function enables a tag reader to collectively read information from a plurality of RFID tags. An ID number for identifying an article (hereinafter called the “tag ID”) can be stored in an RFID tag which has such a feature, such that the RFID tag can be attached to the associated article to permit an efficient article management).